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If you receive Senior Life, be sure to check out page 5 of the July issue! The article highlights the Forever Learning Institute and our valued partnership with Southfield Village, showcasing how working together helps create meaningful lifelong learning opportunities and enriches the lives of older adults in our community. We are grateful to Senior Life for sharing our story and to Southfield Village for being such an outstanding community partner. Together, we’re making lifelong learning more accessible, engaging, and impactful.

We’re thrilled to announce that Forever Creative, our new initiative to expand access to arts programming for older adults, has been awarded funding through the Indiana Arts Commission’s FY2027 Arts Project Support Grant Program! This grant, in partnership with the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County, will strengthen beloved programs like the Silvertones and Solid Silver Dancers while creating exciting new opportunities for hands-on arts experiences and community partnerships. We can’t wait to share upcoming classes, workshops, and special events with you! Arts Commission’s FY2027 Arts Project Support Grant Program!

The Forever Learning Institute is delighted to announce that we have been awarded a $10,000 Senior Living Grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, Indiana. The grant will support Forever Creative, a new FLI initiative designed to expand access to arts programming by removing barriers to participation. Forever Creative combines instruction, hands-on creative experiences, and community engagement to help older adults explore and enjoy the arts. Funding will strengthen long-standing programs such as the Silvertones, the Solid Silver Dancers, and FLI's visual arts classes, while also creating new opportunities to bring arts programming to an even broader community of older adults. Read more about the Community Foundation grant at the link below.

This story celebrates what makes the Forever Learning Institute so special—our incredible volunteers, dedicated leaders, inspiring instructors, and lifelong learners who make our community thrive every day.

Several new day trips have recently been announced. Experiences include a Spanish food and wine tasting, trips to regional museums, a Pink Bag Tour of Kalamazoo with proceeds supporting local charities that support those affected by breast cancer, and a celebration of America's 250th anniversary!

Dean Heisey, a recent addition to the Forever Learning Institute instructor team, was planning to teach his very first class during the Summer 2026 semester. A longtime member of the Silvertones, Dean was known for his gentle spirit, kind heart, and genuine care for others. His presence enriched our community, and his legacy will continue to inspire all who had the privilege of knowing him. He will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by the Forever Learning Institute family and beyond.

Nominations for the 2026 South Bend Community’s Choice Awards open today! Show your support by nominating us today under the following categories; Kids & Education → Learning/Tutoring Center Services → Retirement/55+ Community Every nomination makes a difference—thank you for being part of our journey!

We’ve been getting a lot of great attention lately—Forever Learning Institute was featured live on WNDU yesterday! If you missed it, you can catch the full segment here: https://www.wndu.com/2026/04/22/forever-learning-institute-south-bend-offers-lifelong-learning-opportunities-seniors/ We’re grateful for the opportunity to share our mission and the amazing community that makes it all possible!

This past weekend we were overjoyed to welcome 12 volunteer students with Notre Dame's Back the Bend initiative. Volunteering a total of 50 hours on their Saturday, they helped clean, organize, and prepare our program for more growth. Thank you to Back the Bend, and Notre Dame students that help make this community a better place!

With our spring semester in full swing its time for a helpful reminder that Forever Learning will be closed from Friday April 3rd to April 10th for Good Friday and Spring Break. See you all back starting April 13th!

This week marked the kick off for our Spring 2026 semester. We're excited to report record enrollment with nearly 2000 class enrollments and over 130 classes. Thank you to all our teachers, and students for spreading the word about this special community! With gratitude, George, Toni, Jennifer, Cindy, and Board of Directors at Forever Learning Institute

Check out this fascinating article about one of Forever Learning Institute’s own instructors, Bill Stockton! Learn how Bill and fellow collectors are preserving the legacy of the historic South Bend Watch Company — once a major American pocket watch manufacturer right here in our community.

With the holidays here and New Years around the corner, we're reflecting on how thankful we are. Thankful for you being a part of this community. 2025 saw a 63% increase in our enrollment to a record 4,346 class seats, through over 320 classes. Thank you to our teachers, students, donors, and sponsors, and may 2026 be even brighter!

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we've been reflecting on how blessed we are. Not all families in Michiana are as fortunate. Consider helping by donating any amount you can to our food drive to support both St. Vincent De Paul and The Little Flower Food Pantries. The last day to donate is November 21st!

Forever Learning will be closed on Monday November 10th, 2025 due to winter weather. We will reopen on November 11th.

One of the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County's Leighton Award winners Reins of Life and FLI Instructor Dorota Janik.

That's to Home Town Living for having us! Always fun!

The FLI main campus on Ironwood will be closed during the week of Sept 22nd - 26th due to parking lot renovations. This effects both classes and office hours at our main campus but DOES NOT effect any off campus classes.

Please check out this great site by one of our own instructors, Aaron Helman!

Thanks to WSBT for having us on the Saturday morning news to help spread the word about this Fall semester registration!